October 2010 - gutvol-d - lists.pglaf.org

Re: Borders Books selling eReaders under $100 (fwd)
by Michael S. Hart 31 Oct '10

31 Oct '10

Today I got an ad from Borders for eBooks under $1.00. This is definitely the year of the eBook!!! Michael On Mon, 25 Oct 2010, Michael S. Hart wrote: > > As web pundits have been predicting, Borders is now selling eReaders under $100. This > is for the older “USB and Bluetooth” KOBO reader, the newer model with wifi is $139. > Good price if you want an ePub device with the Adobe DRM which may allow you to download > ebooks from your local library using Overdrive – not to mention read ePubs from PG (But > you will have to download them via your computer and USB cable, or if you have a > Blackberry then by wifi.) > > > > http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_ereaders > > > > Video review by ZDNet: > > > > http://tinyurl.com/24lxnro > > > >

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Away From The Net
by Michael S. Hart 31 Oct '10

31 Oct '10

I will be hard to get the next few days, but keep trying. I'm not sure this computer will come back up when I try-- but I'll at least have my netbook, etc. Michael

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Re: Nook Color
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

all of the units in this space had e-ink before. now there is a break. that is a turning-away. i'm not saying the turn-away will be complete. there's some question whether it will even be successful. if this machine, and the color kobo which is rumored to be following quickly behind, don't perform in the marketplace, there will be a turning-back toward e-ink. or, if they do ok, then they might split the market from here out. or, if the e-ink people provide the color that they have promised would appear "in 5 years" for the last 10 years, e-ink might regain the high ground. (ok, i admit it, i was just yanking your chain to see if you really still believe all those vapor promises.) but, on a more serious note, we still have the screen that mary lou developed over at o.l.p.c. i sure wish that'd get out of the starting gate... screen tech is finally getting interesting, after too many years of overpromising and underdelivering. -bowerbird

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Re: Nook Color
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

jim said: > B&N just came out with a color display ePub reader: well, they _announced_ it. they didn't let anyone actually _touch_ it, let alone _use_ it. and pageturns were described as "excruciating"... not good. their software has been truly laughable up to this point -- i have friends who work for a barnes&noble, and they are frustrated to the point of no return selling the buggy things -- so let's see if they have improved that before we applaud. the most interesting thing about this announcement is the degree to which it signals a turning away from e-ink. of course, nook might be a loser no matter _what_ it uses. (in fairness, though, david moynihan reports that he is getting good sales from barnes&noble; not as good as from amazon, but a lot closer than most other people.) -bowerbird

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Re: kindle continues to zoom, hardware and software
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 27 Oct '10

27 Oct '10

keith said: > if the big publishing houses finally stated that they will produce > electronic version of the majority of their books published, > that would be news. keith, you amuse me. the big publishing houses are the _dinosaurs_ in this revolution... if you think their actions -- in any way, shape, or form -- constitute "news" when it comes to e-books, you are badly and sadly mistaken. the news is that the dinosaurs are going down. look at the mammals. the mammals are the authors who have already learned that they can eliminate the middlemen publishers by uploading directly to amazon. if you want to listen in where the mammals hang out, try here: > http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ joe konrath discovered -- quite by accident -- that he can pay his mortgage by selling kindle-books, and he is spreading the word... -bowerbird

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Re: Borders Books selling eReaders under $100
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 26 Oct '10

26 Oct '10

jim said: > I don’t always feel compelled to buy paper books > with the newest cover on them either. jim, i'm sure you know that that's a very bad analogy. > Actually, I’ve run into a bunch of people who are > interested in ebooks in order to *reduce* the price of > their book buying habits. Student on a budget, for example. that's still not a reason to buy outdated technology... > Also, I or other PG devs might get one just so we have > an ePub based eReader as well as MOBI-based ones. you imply that this "epub-based reader" will be just as good as any other one that happens along. it won't, i assure you... they are giving people a very clear signal that they are _not_ gonna support these models going forward. heed that signal. > But then I might be tempted to spend the extra $40 to > get wifi, or the extra money to get a Sony Reader, or a Nook… all of those decisions would be much smarter decisions, yes. > …it shows the marketeers are getting their pricing right > if one can’t figure out what to buy. there is no question about "which one to buy" in this situation. do _not_ buy this outdated technology which they are dumping. spend the extra $40 or more to get a machine that you will use. -bowerbird

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Re: kindle continues to zoom, hardware and software
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 26 Oct '10

26 Oct '10

michael said: > "Mirror, mirror, on the wall. . . ." > > Please, Mr. Bird, look in the mirror before you write this stuff. > > I can't count the times I have asked you to do something > that was a simple execution of what you said you were doing > already, but a response from you turned out in effect to just > continue bitching, you use your own word. > > I have warned you privately, now I will warn you again in public, > if you don't DO something in the way of actually constructing > new or improved eBooks and send them directly to me, I will > stop what I have been doing to to protect you from yet again > being off list with nowhere here to send your comments. > > Is there really any content in the message below besides bitches? > > Please. . .after all this time some CONSTRUCTION. . .please. . .! michael, i don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about here. -bowerbird

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Re: kindle continues to zoom, hardware and software
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 26 Oct '10

26 Oct '10

jim, i know what you did to help people put p.g. on their kindles, and you did a fantastic job helping people pull off that job for themselves. that's not what i was talking about, though... i was talking about an effort by p.g. to establish the p.g. catalog throughout amazon. to create print-on-demand versions, kindle-books, the whole bag, all under the p.g. brand. but nobody wanted to do that. ok, fine... that meant that privateers out there took p.g. books and set 'em up. i'm fine with that too... at least the option is open to readers, right? but every once in a while here, someone moans about the privateers. so when they do, i remind them that they could have done it _first_, but actively chose not to do so, so maybe they should be quiet now. they ceded the ground to the privateers... so it was their own fault. so, do you see the difference, jim? you made it so kindle owners can get p.g. e-books from p.g., for free. that's a wonderful thing. but i was talking about an unrealized plan for amazon customers to get p.g. books (p-books and e-books) from _amazon_, at a cost, where p.g. would be the beneficiary of those customer purchases... (perhaps p.g. could have offered the e-books for free, but we never got to the stage of putting the plan in play, to make that decision.) so now privateers are benefiting from the work of p.g. volunteers... again, i'm fine with that, and everyone should be fine with it too, because they could have done things differently, but they didn't... -bowerbird

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kindle continues to zoom, hardware and software
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 26 Oct '10

26 Oct '10

barnes&noble is having a press conference tomorrow... so, in a friendly competitive nod, amazon did a press release today. > http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle& ID=1486648 without giving specific numbers -- this _is_ amazon, you know -- the announcement was that amazon has already sold more kindle _hardware_ units in the month of october than they moved in the _entire_ fourth quarter of last year, which is a staggering statistic, given that the holiday buying period hasn't even really begun yet... moreover -- again, without any specific numbers -- amazon noted that bestsellers are now selling in greater numbers _electronically_ than in _both_ paperback and hardcover form, _combined_, and that the rate is 2-to-1. again, a staggering and mind-blowing statistic... the hardware sales leap is understandable. given the new low price of the machine, with their proven performance in the marketplace, it's not surprising that amazon would be moving so many units now. they're also reaping the rewards of a high-profile advertising thrust. and given the nice bump in hardware units, perhaps some rise in the sales of kindle-books could be expected, in corresponding fashion... but 2-to-1, against paperback and hardcover _combined!_ killer! a while back, amazon announced that k-books surpassed hardcover. but given that hardcovers run $15-$20, even with amazon discounts, while some k-books weigh in at just $2.99, numbers didn't tell it all. but this is a straight-up comparison of _bestsellers_, which weight heavily toward the corporate publishers, most especially the big6... and 5 of those big6 are charging _agency_ prices for their k-books, a fact which makes this announcement even _more_ darn amazing... what this says -- and the corporate publishers can verify this simply by looking at their own results on their own books -- is that k-books (even at agency prices) are out-selling the paperbooks and hardcovers which the corporate publishers are putting out. their business model -- as per their history and their own mindsets -- is now _overturned_, at least on the flat playing-field that amazon provides them. stunning. how soon will it be before amazon is selling more k-books than the combined number of hardcovers and paperbooks sold by _everyone_? that's the question those corporate publishers must be wondering... -bowerbird

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Re: Borders Books selling eReaders under $100
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 25 Oct '10

25 Oct '10

well, yeah, but geez, people, don't buy yesterday's tech for something that you're gonna wanna use tommorow. there's a reason it's cheap. they're unloading the stuff... -bowerbird

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